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robb wolf

I can hear the birds chirping outside this morning! I hope they are giving the groundhog a big middle finger and singing little birdy songs about warmer weather coming soon. I really would love to get a nice run in today and keep up my Sunday running streak. We will see! Now that I have just typed that out, I will hopefully make myself do it!

This week has been full of the most energy I have felt since starting. There are no spikes or drops in my day, I have been able to push myself in workouts even if I have felt a little tired before starting them, and I feel like I’m able to be more productive and clear headed at work.

Energy: I know I just described how great my energy has been this week, but this topic definitely deserves its own bullet point to elaborate. When doing day-to-day things like going to the grocery store or walking from the office to my car I crave running or jogging. At work, I sometimes have to remind myself not to run in the facility in front of visitors because one of our rules to the public is no running in the building. Oops! With this said, I actually have not been on a legit run since last Sunday (with the exception of treadmill sprinting for 10 minutes on Tuesday night). I am curious to see how my endurance and pace changes (hopefully for the better) on my next run.

Body: I am definitely noticing changes in my body. The other day I reached for something in the kitchen and my hand brushed by my other arm and I was surprised to feel muscle definition there- without trying to look for it! I have some ab definition finally coming back into sight after months of bloat. In a gym class the other day I noticed how my quads were looking more defined too. My finger nails are growing faster than ever and aren’t chipping like they usually would after growing past a certain length. I trimmed a little bit off of my pointer fingers earlier last week and they are already growing back in. One other awesome thing is that I don’t feel sore the next day after hard workouts because my body is recovering quickly. And, I have absolutely no tenderness in my right ankle! I’ve still been able to run on it, squat on it, jump on it, and lunge on it which were the higher impact exercises to do without it throbbing or swelling. I haven’t really even been checking if it has been inflamed or not because it feels fine and I forget to do so!

Sleep: Sleep has been great all week. I am pretty much fighting to stay awake around 9ish and in bed by 9:30. Some mornings I wake up earlier than others. Yesterday I woke up at 6 in the morning to feed Lady and couldn’t go back to bed, but I was happy to be up considering I still got 8 hours of sleep. Today I slept until Hubs woke up to walk Lady at 7 and I still got around 9 hours of sleep last night. The self-sabotaging binge dreams have subsided for now; however, my dreams are still pretty active and vivid. I had a crazy one last night that involved drug smuggling in a movie theater.

Attitude: I feel happy. I feel like myself again. I reflected a little bit about this in my last post, but I had a crazy year in 2013. I just got engaged, became a first time homeowner, was still getting comfortable in a new full time job position, and all while planning a wedding. I had so much on my plate and wanted everything to be perfect that my eating habits and overall well-being plummeted. After the wedding was over and we returned home from the Honeymoon, I thought I would instantly go right back to my old self. Instead I actually fell into a depressed funk. I suddenly didn’t have any creative outlet like a wedding to plan and I felt super sad that all the family and friends that had come to visit us for the wedding were now gone. I felt guilty that I didn’t spend enough time with everyone. This funk lasted for a few months, really until I did my first Whole30 right before Christmas. I didn’t want to wait until after Christmas because I was sick of not feeling like myself. I’m so glad I did it right then and there. And I’m so glad I’ve decided to do it again! Yesterday’s visit with my mom really gave me perspective on how far I’ve come. This whole experience is truly an eye-opener on how much food can have an overall effect on me.

In my Week 2 Recap I never listed any of my favorite things from that week. So, I will post a few now for weeks 2 and 3:

I found these little packets of Artisana butters at my local Co-op. At first I thought I’d buy them and then research what recipes to use them in but then I just ended up eating them by themselves. They were the perfect emergency on-the-go “snack.” Holy Hell, if you haven’t had coconut butter yet, you need to try it ASAP. My other favorite was the Pecan Butter. I’d like to use more cashew butter in recipes; I think it would be delicious in a chicken stir-fry.

These little packets of walnuts and almonds have come in handy! They save me time on dividing out a bulk bag of nuts to take with me for pre or post workout meals. I don’t really trust myself yet with eyeballing a proportionate serving size of nuts with my meal (I’m scared I will just end up eating the entire bag), so the fact that these already come in a serving size are perfect for me. They are also the perfect addition to my meal before band rehearsals on Tuesday evenings since I won’t get home to eat anything until after 9 PM.

I’ve been reading Robb Wolf‘s book The Paleo Solutionthese past few weeks. I rented it from the library to give me another perspective on the paleo diet that is NOT written by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig. Don’t get me wrong, It Starts With Foodwas such an important read for me and became a huge asset in the success of my first Whole30. However, I am nearing the fourth week of my second Whole30 and I want to be able to transition more easily this time around into a paleo lifestyle afterwards. In fact, I have been thinking about rereading It Starts With Food sometime again, but for now Robb Wolf’s book is just what I’m looking for. I am not even halfway through (I don’t get too much down time and if I try to read at night, I fall asleep!) but it is really helpful with reiterating some of the more science based facts on why nutrition is so important. Plus, Robb Wolf was an inspiration behind the Hartwig’s Whole30 concept. Hopefully I’ll finish it before the library sends me some nasty-grams via email.

This bad boy is pretty self-explanatory. It is a 3-in-1 Avocado Slicer. It splits, pits, and slices! I received it at my bridal shower and I have never used it so much! However, you must note that it only works well when the avocados you buy from the grocery store are ripe enough to actually slice. I hate buying avocados that look ripe enough and end up being duds! Why must they be so fickle?!

Alright, well I am all blogged out for today. I’ve got to start my Sunday routine which includes lots of grocery shopping and food prep in the kitchen. Hopefully a run will make somehow make itself in there too. Here’s to a great start to the fourth week!